You’re looking at it from the databases point of view (makes sense, you consult on them) but there’s a lot going on in the developer world. For instance, MongoD

You’re looking at it from the databases point of view (makes sense, you consult on them) but there’s a lot going on in the developer world. For instance, MongoDB exists and is popular because it doesn’t center the database but rather the developer. And in particular the needs of the developer line burning down a backlog without the database slowing that down. Other databases focus on and optimize around a certain set of problems which yes, not as many people have as they think, but they aren’t just reserved for Google either. And then there’s the world of analytics and data science etc where a host of databases that are not SQL become useful tools. I do agree though that SQL should be a first consideration. But having worked up and down the stack from dev to dev-ops over the last 15 years I’ve gone from skeptic to enthusiastic in the choices. Horses for courses.